Pres. Trump pardons former top strategist Steve Bannon, 72 others and 70 commutations

WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to former White House aide Steve Bannon as part of a wave of pardons and commutations he issued during his final hours in office.

Trump pardoned 73 people and commuted the sentences of an additional 70. At least 50 are drug related.

Trump did not pardon lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who was at the forefront of unsuccessful efforts to get the results of the 2020 presidential election overturned. Trump did not pardon himself or any of his family members.

Trump leaves office on Wednesday, when Joe Biden is sworn in as the nation’s next president. He can still issue pardons up until the end of his term.

The list of pardons and commutations include:

Lil Wayne
Kodak Black
Kwame Kilpatrick
Elliot Broidy, former Deputy National Finance Chair of the Republican National Committee
Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona
Randall “Duke” Cunningham, former California congressman
William “Ed” Henry, former Alabama lawmaker
Kenneth Kurson
Paul Erickson
Robert Cannon “Robin” Hayes, former North Carolina congressman
Casey Urlacher
Anthony Levandowski, former Google engineer

Former advisor to the US president and US publicist Steve Bannon poses during a photo session in Paris on May 27, 2019. (JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
Congressman Randy Duke Cunningham (2nd R) walks into Federal Courthouse during the sentencing phase at the U.S. District Courthouse March 3, 2006 in San Diego, California. Cunningham was found guilty of conspiracy and tax evasion for accepting more than 2.4 million in bribes and could face up to 10 years in prison. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
Rapper Lil’ Wayne smiles as he waits to perform at Foxtail Pool at SLS Las Vegas on September 6, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
US Republican Representative from Arizona Rick Renzi, gestures as he speaks during a press conference at the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, 01 April 2007. Renzi and a group of US Congressmen are on a visit to the war-torn country. (SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick appears in Wayne County Circuit Court for his sentencing October 28, 2008 in Detroit, Michigan. Kilpatrick will spend 4 months in jail as part of a plea deal he accepted back in September in which he plead guilty to two felonies and no contest to a felony assault charge. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Paul Erickson (KELOLAND News via C-SPAN)
Kodak Black attends the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 27, 2017 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Bannon, who was a key adviser in Trump’s 2016 presidential run, was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the president’s wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty.

White House officials had advised Trump against pardoning Bannon. The two men have lately rekindled their relationship as Trump sought support for his unproven claims of voter fraud, an official familiar with the situation said.

Bannon, 67, is the latest prominent political ally to receive clemency from Trump. Trump had already issued two waves of pardons in the past month. This third wave was expected. A presidential pardon only applies to federal crimes and does not exclude state, local or civil offenses.

Trump previously pardoned former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI about his conversation with the former Russian ambassador, and he commuted the prison term for Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Bannon can still be charged in state court in New York, where a pardon would not help him, said Daniel R. Alonso, a former prosecutor now at the Buckley law firm. Fraud prosecutions are frequently brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Alonso said.

White House advisers had said Trump privately discussed with advisers whether to take the step of issuing a pardon for himself ahead of his imminent impeachment trial.

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives earlier this month on a charge of “incitement of insurrection” one week after the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol Complex. The House voted 232-197, including 10 Republicans, in favor of impeachment.

His case will now head to a Senate trial and if convicted, he could be potentially be disqualified from seeking another run for the presidency in 2024. There is no set date for when the trial will start.

Trump will leave Washington early Wednesday and skip the inauguration of Biden to begin his post-presidency at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. Vice President Mike Pence will attend the inauguration.

He is expected to be sent off with a departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews.

(Reporting by Steve Holland. Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Jan Wolfe. Writing by James Oliphant. Editing by Mary Milliken and Lincoln Feast.)

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.